System and method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment. A first controller in a first operations environment is configured to receive a first message for establishing a media session, and transmit a request for media service. A media controller in a second operations environment is configured to provide media to a target device during the media session in response to the request; receive during the media session a second message from the first controller; and control the media based on the second message from the first controller.

BACKGROUND

Existing technology such as, for example, cloud computing technology allows the distribution of workload between local resources and resources on a remote operations environment. In this regard, an enterprise utilizing the cloud computing technology may shift some (or all) of the workload to resources on the remote operations environment. Although remote resources are being utilized, the enterprise may still want to retain some, if not all, of the control at the enterprise level.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system and method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment. A first controller in a first operations environment configured to receive a first message for establishing a media session, and transmit a request for media service. A media controller in a second operations environment is configured to provide media to a target device during the media session in response to the request; receive during the media session a second message from the first controller; and control the media based on the second message from the first controller.

According to one embodiment, the media service is a call parking service, and the media is music played by the media controller.

According to one embodiment, the second message is for ending the call parking service, and the controlling by the media controller ends the music played by the media controller.

According to one embodiment, the media service is for call recording, and the media provided to the target device is media to be recorded by the target device.

According to one embodiment, the second message is for ending the call recording, and the controlling by the media controller ends the recording by the target device.

According to one embodiment, the media controller in the second operations environment provides the media service to a plurality of contact centers sharing the media controller.

According to one embodiment, one of the plurality of contact centers associated with an inbound call is identified, where the media session is established for the inbound call; and a profile for the identified contact center is identified, wherein a parameter for providing the media is based on the identified profile.

Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to a system for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment. The system includes a first controller in a first operations environment configured to: receive a first message for establishing a media session; transmit a request for media service to a media controller in a second operations environment, wherein in response to the request, the media controller is configured to provide media to a target device during the media session; and transmit a second message to the media controller during the media session, wherein the media controller is configured to control the media based on the second message.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. Of course, the actual scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing customer self-service in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing outbound notifications in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing call parking services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing call progress detection for outbound calls made in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a system for call recording in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a signaling flow diagram for recording a call in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment with failover capabilities according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment with failover capabilities according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic layout diagram of distribution of various media services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11A is a schematic block diagram of a contact center system illustrating cost and latency for an typical VoIP call without call recording according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11B is a schematic block diagram of the contact center system of FIG. 11A, illustrating cost and latency involved for the call between the customer and agent, but with call recording enabled;

FIG. 11C is a schematic block diagram of a contact center system configured for geo-location based call recording according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a system for contact center call recording and recording posting according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is signaling flow diagram for posting a recorded call according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 14A-14B are signaling flow diagrams for handling failure of a media control platform during a recording according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 is a conceptual layout diagram of process for recovering a recording upon failure and recovery of a media control platform according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a structure of call recording metadata provided to a web server according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a structure of call recording metadata provided to a web server according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18 is a conceptual layout diagram of a call record displayed by a client playback application according to one embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 19 and 20 are diagrams of the structure of call recording metadata generated for different segments of a call according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general terms, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system and method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment where some of the services are provided via software and hardware resources in one operations environment while other services are provided via software and hardware resources in another operations environment. The operations environments may be different due to a difference in their locations (e.g. local vs. remote), a difference in the entities controlling the resources in the two environments (e.g. different business enterprises), and/or the like. The environments used as examples for describing various embodiments of the invention are an operations environment at a contact center premise (also referred to as a local operations or computing environment), and an operations environment at a remote location (referred to as a remote operations or computing environment), although the invention is not limited thereto. That is, a person of skill in the art should recognize that the embodiments of the invention may extend to any two different or separate operations environments conventional in the art.

In providing contact center services to customers of an enterprise, the software and hardware resources of the contact center servicing the enterprise are invoked to engage in interactions with the customers. The services may vary depending on the type of contact center, and may range from customer service to help desk, emergency response, telemarketing, order taking, and the like. The interactions that may ensue in order to render the services may include, for example, voice calls, emails, text messages, social media interactions, and the like.

According to embodiments of the present invention, control or influence over an interaction is provided and retained in whole or in part by an appliance at the contact center premise while media is provided by resources in the remote operations environment. According to some embodiments, control or influence over an interaction is provided and retained in whole or in part by a resource in the remote operations environment, while media is provided by resources in the local operations environment. In further embodiments, a resource controlling an interaction may invoke media in one operations environment (e.g. local environment) for certain aspects of the interaction, and then invoke media in a different operations environment (e.g. remote environment) for other aspects of the interaction.

Unlike a traditional hybrid operations environment where control of an interaction and media for the interaction are either in one operations environment or another, embodiments of the present invention allow both environments to be actively involved in the processing of the interaction at the same time by, for example, providing control from one environment and media from another environment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. The system includes premise appliances 10 at a contact center premise 12, and a remote platform 14 in a remote operations environment 16. Both the premise appliances 10 and the remote platform 14 include software, hardware, and network infrastructure that make up different contact center components for providing contact center services to a customer having access to an end user device 18. Exemplary contact center components include, without limitation, a switch and/or media gateway, telephony server, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server, routing server, media server, recording server, outbound call server, statistics server, reporting server, web server, configuration server, and/or the like. Each server may include a processor and memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, allow a function of the server to be performed. The various servers may also be referred to as controllers and may be implemented via an architecture other than a client-server architecture.

According to one embodiment, the contact center components are distributed between the premise 12 and the remote operations environment 16. In this regard, a particular contact center component may be provided by either the premise 12 as part of the premise appliances 10, or by the remote operations environment 16 via the remote platform 14. In some embodiments, a particular contact center component may be provided by both the premise 12 and the remote operations environment 16. In this regard, logic in either the premise or in the remote operations environment may determine, dynamically (e.g. upon arrival of a call) which component to invoke.

According to one embodiment, the remote operations environment 16 is a cloud operations environment that utilizes servers and other types of controllers, and is coupled to premises contact centers over a wide area network. Contact center services from the remote operations environment may be provided by a cloud service provider on behalf of multiple contact centers (also referred to as tenants) as a software as a service (SaaS), over the wide area network. The tenants may own their own infrastructure for providing some of the contact center services. The infrastructure and capabilities at the tenant premises may differ from the infrastructure and capabilities in the remote operations environment. According to one embodiment, the premise contact center may be operated by enterprise operations team while the remote operations environment may be operated by an operations team outside of the enterprise.

The remote operations environment 16 is configured to provide a point of presence for connection to various telephony service providers. According to one embodiment, media traffic transmitted using a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) terminates in the remote operations environment. The remote operations environment may provide a guaranteed quality of service (QoS) for the media traffic. In another embodiment, no QoS guarantees are provided for the media traffic traversing the remote operations environment 16.

According to one embodiment, the remote operations environment 16 includes an edge device 20 configured to control signaling and media streams involved in setting up, conducting, and tearing down voice conversations and other media communications between, for example, a customer and a contact center agent. According to one embodiment, the edge device 20 is a session border controller controlling the signaling and media exchanged during a media session (also referred to as a “call” or “communication session”) between the customer and the agent. According to one embodiment, the signaling exchanged during a media session includes SIP, H.323, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), and/or any other voice-over IP (VoIP) call signaling protocols conventional in the art. The media exchanged during a media session includes media streams which carry the call's audio, video, or other data along with information of call statistics and quality.

According to one embodiment, the edge device 20 operates according to a standard SIP back-to-back user agent (B2BUA) configuration. In this regard, the edge device 20 is inserted in the signaling and media paths established between a calling and called parties in a VoIP call.

According to one embodiment, the remote platform 14 is a multi-tenant platform shared by multiple tenants. The platform includes standard hardware components such as, for example, one or more processors, disks, memories, and the like, used for implementing one or more of the contact center components (e.g. media server, recording server, SIP server, etc.). According to one embodiment, the one or more contact center components are implemented as software on the remote platform. The software components may be hosted by one or more virtual machines. The virtual machines may be dedicated to each tenant, or shared among the various tenants.

The appliances 10 maintained at each contact center premise 12 include contact center components which may or may not be included in the remote operations environment 16. For example, the appliances may include a telephony/SIP server, routing server, statistics server, agent devices (e.g. telephones, desktops, etc.), and/or other controllers typical for rendering contact center services for the particular contact center. Because the appliances are located locally within the contact center premise, the contact center retains control of such appliances.

According to one embodiment, VoIP infrastructure 26 (e.g. SIP trunk) is used to provide connectivity between a public switched telephony network (PSTN) 24 and the private network 22. According to one embodiment, the private network 22 implements MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) for transmitting VoIP communication over a wide area network (WAN) via leased lines. Although MPLS is used as an example, a person of skill in the art should recognize that any other mechanism in addition or in lieu of MPLS may be used for ensuring quality of service guarantees, bit rates, and bandwidth for calls traversing the private network. Due to the quality of service guarantees provided by the private network 22, consistent call quality and security can generally be expected for those calls while traversing the private network.

According to one embodiment, the edge device 20 in the remote operations environment 16 exerts control over the signaling (e.g. SIP messages) and media streams (e.g. RTP data) routed to and from customer devices 18 and premise appliances 10 that traverse the private network 22. In this regard, the edge device 20 is coupled to trunks 28 that carry signals and media for calls to and from customer devices 18 over the private network 22, and to trunks 30 that carry signals and media to and from the premise appliances 10 over the private network. The edge device 20 is also coupled to the remote platform 14 which provides contact center services to the customers.

The remote operations environment 16 may also be coupled to other public operations environments (e.g. public cloud computing environments), and some processing may be distributed to the other remote operations environments as will be apparent to a person of skill in the art. For example, processing intelligence and media handling that do not require QoS may be distributed to the other remote operations environments on behalf of one or more tenants. For example, the public operations environment may host a virtual machine dedicated to each tenant with a SIP server, routing service, and the like, for handling inbound and outbound voice contacts.

I. Contact Center Services in Hybrid Environment

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing customer self-service in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. The customer self-service may be referred as an interactive-voice-response (IVR) self-service. In this regard, the remote platform 14 provides a voice platform 58 for multiple subscribing tenants for providing customer self-service functionality for inbound calls directed to any of the multiple tenants. Although self-service and assisted-service capabilities are contemplated to be provided by the voice platform, a person of skill in the art should recognize that other types of assisted service, multimedia interactions, and applications outside of the contact center are also possible.

The voice platform 58 may host, for example, a SIP server 56, resource manager 50, speech servers 54, and a media control platform 52. The resource manager 50 and media control platform 52 may collectively be referred to as a media controller. According to one embodiment, the SIP server 56 acts as a SIP B2UBA, and controls the flow of SIP requests and responses between SIP endpoints. Any other controller configured to set up and tear down VoIP communication session may be contemplated in addition or in lieu to the SIP server as will be apparent to a person of skill in the art. The SIP server 56 may be a separate logical component or combined with the resource manager 50. In some embodiments, the SIP server may be hosted at the contact center premise 12, and/or in the remote operations environment.

The resource manager 50 is configured to allocate and monitor a pool of media control platforms for providing load balancing and high availability for each resource type. According to one embodiment, the resource manager 50 monitors and selects a media control platform 52 from a cluster of available platforms. The selection of the media control platform 52 may be dynamic, for example, based on identification of a location of a calling customer, type of media services to be rendered, a detected quality of a current media service, and the like.

According to one embodiment, the resource manager is configured to process requests for media services, and interact with, for example, a configuration server having a configuration database, to determine an interactive voice response (IVR) profile, voice application (e.g. Voice Extensible Markup Language (Voice XML) application), announcement, and conference application, resource, and service profile that can deliver the service, such as, for example, a media control platform. According to one embodiment, the resource manager may provide hierarchical multi-tenant configurations for service providers, enabling them to apportion a select number of resources for each tenant.

According to one embodiment, the resource manager is configured to act as a SIP proxy, SIP registrar, and/or a SIP notifier. In this regard, the resource manager may act as a proxy for SIP traffic between two SIP components. As a SIP registrar, the resource manager may accept registration of various resources via, for example, SIP REGISTER messages. In this manner, the voice platform 58 may support transparent relocation of call-processing components. In some embodiments, components such as the media control platform, do not register with the resource manager at startup. The resource manager detects instances of the media control platform 52 through configuration information retrieved from the configuration database. If the media control platform resource group has been configured for monitoring, the resource manager monitors resource health by using, for example, SIP OPTIONS messages. For example, to determine whether the resources in the group are alive, the resource manager periodically sends SIP OPTIONS messages to each media control platform resource in the group. If the resource manager receives an OK response, the resources are considered alive.

According to one embodiment, the resource manager act as a SIP notifier by accepting, for example, SIP SUBSCRIBE requests from the SIP server 56 and maintaining multiple independent subscriptions for the same or different SIP devices. The subscription notices are targeted for the tenants that are managed by the resource manager. In this role, the resource manager periodically generates SIP NOTIFY requests to subscribers (or tenants) about port usage and the number of available ports. The resource manager supports multi-tenancy by sending notifications that contain the tenant name and the current status (in- or out-of-service) of the media control platform that is associated with the tenant, as well as current capacity for the tenant.

The resource manager is configured to perform various functions:

Resource management—The resource manager allocates and monitors SIP resources to maintain a current status of the resources within a voice platform 58 deployment. In this regard, the resource manager provides load balancing and high availability for each resource type, as the workload is evenly distributed among resources of the same type. These processes help to ensure that new, incoming services are not interrupted when a resource is unavailable.

Session management—The resource manager combines two logical functions of session management:

Physical resource management—The resource manager monitors the status of the various voice platform resources and, based on request-for-service and capability mapping, routes to resources that offer a particular set of capabilities or services.

Logical service management—The resource manager applies high-level application and business logic to select the service that is delivered and the parameters that are applied. In this regard, the resource to fulfill the service does not need to be specified in advance. In this way, the resource manager provides session management functions to handle logical call sessions, individual calls within a logical session, and the lifetime and coordination of call legs within a call session.

Service selection—When a call session arrives at the resource manager, the resource manager maps the call to an IVR profile and, if applicable, to a tenant, and selects a service for the request. There are various ways in which the resource manager may determine which IVR profile to execute. According to one embodiment, a dialed number identification service (DNIS) may be used to identify which application to run. In this scenario, the incoming call corresponds to the DNIS.

According to one embodiment, when a platform administrator segregates services into a multi-tiered hierarchy, the resource manager also identifies the tenant for which a request is intended. The IVR profile, policy enforcement, and service parameters may be determined by the tenant that is associated with the request. In a hierarchical multi-tenant (HMT) environment, when a tenant is selected, the policies enforced, and application and service parameters associated with that tenant, may also affect the child tenants within that tenant object.

After the resource manager has determined the IVR profile for a session, it identifies the service type and the service prerequisites for each call leg (also referred to as a call path or segment of a call connection). For each type of service within an IVR profile, one may configure a set of service parameters that the resource manager forwards to the VoiceXML application to affect the way that the application is executed. For example, default languages may be configured for the VoiceXML services for voice applications.

Policy enforcement—According to one embodiment, for each IVR Profile and, if applicable, for each tenant, policies may be configured such as, for example, usage limits, dialing rules, and service capabilities. The resource manager enforces policies by imposing them on the VoiceXML application to determine whether or not to accept a SIP session. If the session is accepted, the resource manager locates a resource to handle it. The resource manager may also enforce policies related to how a VoiceXML or CCXML application uses a resource. For multiple tenants, the resource manager may be configured to apply and enforce policies in a hierarchical manner. HMT enables a service provider or parent tenant to allocate portions of its inbound ports to each reseller (or child tenant). The reseller can, in turn allocate ports to a number of child tenants within its tenant object. When tenant policies are enforced at the child tenant level, the policies are propagated to all other child tenants within that child tenant object.

Service request modification—According to one embodiment, before the resource manager forwards a request to a resource that can handle the mapped service, it can modify the SIP request to add, delete, or modify the SIP parameters. This may be defined on a per-service/per-application basis.

Resource selection—After the resource manager has identified an IVR Profile and service type, it identifies a resource group that can provide the service. Then, on the basis of the load-balancing scheme for the group and the status of individual physical resources in the group, it allocates the request to a particular physical resource.

Resource selection with geo-location information—When the resource manager receives a request with geo-location information from a gateway resource (SIP Server), it checks the resource groups to determine if the geo-location parameter that is configured for the group matches the geo-location in the request. If it finds a match, the resource manager routes the call to the group based on port availability, preference and other criteria.

Resource selection for outbound campaigns—For outbound-call campaigns, the resource manager is configured to predict the ratio of agent calls to customer calls. When there are multiple media control platforms in a deployment, the resource manager may distribute calls based on the maximum number of calls and free ports for a particular campaign.

Call-data reporting—When data collection and logging events occur, the resource manager sends these log events to, for example, a reporting server.

In some embodiments, the voice platform 58 may not include a resource manager 50, or the functionality of the resource manager 50 may be incorporated into another voice platform component, such as, for example, the media control platform 52.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the speech servers 54 are configured with speech recognition technology to provide automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech functionality for use in voice applications.

The media control platform 52 is configured to provide call and media services upon request from a service user. Such services, include, without limitation, initiating outbound calls, playing music or providing other media while a call is placed on hold, call recording, conferencing, call progress detection, playing audio/video prompts during a customer self-service session, and the like. One or more of the services are defined by voice applications 60 a, 60 b (e.g. VoiceXML applications) that are executed as part of the process of establishing a media session between the media control platform and the service user.

According to one embodiment, the voice platform 58 is shared by various contact centers for which contact center services are provided. According to this embodiment, multiple voice applications for multiple tenants run on the same media control platform instance without interfering with one another. Identification of the tenant (e.g. based on the telephone number dialed by the customer), for which a voice application is run, allows a proper voice application to be selected and executed for that call.

In one example where customer self-service is to be provided for an inbound call, the call comes in to the edge device 20 and is forwarded to the SIP server 56. The edge device 20 is configured to identify a tenant to which the call is directed, and identify the SIP server 56 configured for the tenant (e.g. based on the inbound phone number that was dialed). According to one embodiment, the SIP server 56 passes the call to the resource manager 50 by sending a signaling message (e.g. SIP INVITE message) to the resource manager. According to one embodiment, there is no separate SIP server 56 set up for the tenant, and some of the functionalities of the SIP server are instead incorporated into the resource manager 50. According to one embodiment, the resource manager is shared by multiple tenants.

The resource manager is configured to identify the contact center associated with the SIP server 56 generating the signaling message (e.g. based on a source address of the SIP server), and further identify a voice or call-control application (referred to as an interactive voice response (IVR) profile), and a service/resource for the request. The particular service that is requested may be identified, for example, in the signaling message to the resource manager.

The resource manager 50 is configured to identify the appropriate media control platform 52 instance from a cluster of media control platform instances based on the IVR profile, load balancing considerations, and the like, and forward a request to the identified media control platform. In forwarding the request, the resource manager is configured to insert additional headers or parameters as specified by the service requirements, service parameters, and polices that have been configured for the IVR profile.

The media control platform 52 is configured to fetch the voice application 60 a, 60 b from, for example, a web server, via an HTTP request. The web server hosting the voice application 60 a, 60 b may reside in the remote operations environment 16 or contact center premise 12.

According to one embodiment, the media control platform 52 includes an interpreter module for interpreting and executing the voice application. In some embodiments, the media control platform, through the resource manager 50, may invoke additional services such as, for example, automatic speech recognition or text-to-speech services, from the speech servers 54.

An RTP media path 62 is established between the media control platform 52 and the end user device 18 through the edge device 20, upon the executing of the voice application. The resource manager 50 ends the call when one of the parties (end user device 18 or media control platform 52) disconnects (e.g. at the end of self-service), or when the call is transferred out of the voice platform 58 (e.g. transferred to an agent).

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing outbound notifications in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. The system is similar to the system in FIG. 2 in that it includes a remote voice platform 58′ which hosts the SIP server 56, resource manager 50, and media control platform 52. In addition, the voice platform 58′ further hosts an outbound gateway 55 configured to manage the initiation of outbound sessions. According to one embodiment, an outbound session is controlled by an outbound application 100, which in the illustrated embodiment, is depicted to reside in a web server (not shown) at the contact center premise 12. A person of skill in the art should recognize, however, that the outbound application may also reside in a server hosted by the remote operations environment 16.

According to one embodiment, the outbound application initiates an outbound call session via an HTTP request to the outbound gateway 55 over a data link 102 traversing the private network 22. The request includes, in one embodiment, the necessary information for initiating the outbound call which may be provided by the outbound application. For example, the outbound application may control the timing of the call, the number to be called, and a voice application 108 a, 108 b to be invoked for the call.

The outbound gateway 55 is coupled to the SIP server 56 which is configured to establish call legs from the edge device 20 to the end user device 18, and from the edge device 20 to the media control platform 52, and bridge the two call legs together for establishing a media path 106 between the end user device 18 and the media control platform 52. The voice notification provided to the customer during the outbound call depends on the voice application 108 a, 108 b identified by the outbound application 100. As in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the voice application may be retrieved from a web server in the contact center premise 12 or in the remote operations environment 16.

Upon completion of the outbound notification, the outbound gateway 55 is configured to collect results of the call from the media control platform 52, and provide such results to the outbound application 100 in a notification message.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing call parking services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. According to this embodiment, a SIP server 70 similar to the SIP server of FIG. 2 is hosted at the contact center premise 12 instead of the remote operations environment 16. The premise further hosts a routing server 72 configured to route an interaction to a contact center resource based on a routing strategy identified by the routing server. The SIP and routing servers 70, 72 being local to the premise may also be referred to as local controllers. Media services are provided remotely, however, via the resource manager 50 and medial controller 52 in the remote operations environment 16.

In one example, an inbound VoIP call is received by the edge device 20 and routed to the SIP server 70. The SIP server 70 queues the call locally at the contact center premise and transmits a message to the routing server 72 for routing the call to an available contact center resource (e.g. agent). In the event that no resources are available for handling the call, the routing server 72 transmits a message to the SIP server 70 over a local data connection 74 of this fact. In response, the SIP server 70 queues the call locally in an inbound queue, and transmits to the resource manager 50 over a data link 78 traversing the private network 22, a request for call parking media services. The resource manager 50 identifies the appropriate media control platform 52 to handle the request, and upon identification of such a platform, a media channel/path 80 is established between the end user device 18 and the media control platform 52 via the edge device 20. Although control of the call is retained by the SIP server 70 at the contact center premise, the media channel 80 need not loop through the contact center premise. According to one embodiment, the SIP server 70 retains control of the call by transmitting signaling messages to various components, including the resource manager 50, to control the media paths that are generated and/or broken down.

As part of the call parking service, the media control platform 52 may use the media channel 80 to provide media such as, voice notifications and/or music, to the customer, for indicating that no agents are currently available. The voice notifications and/or music that are selected may depend on the voice application retrieved by the media control platform. As part of the call parking service, the media control platform may also be configured to periodically transmit a message to the routing server 72 requesting an amount of estimated wait time calculated by the routing server 72. The request may be transmitted over a data link 76 that traverses the private network 22. In response, the routing server 72 provides the requested information to the media control platform 52, and is used by the voice application to output corresponding audio (e.g. “we estimate your wait time to be between 5 and 10 minutes”) via the media channel established between the media control platform and the end user device 18.

The routing server 72 is configured to monitor for availability of the contact center resource, and upon identification of such a resource, transmits a message to the SIP server 70. In response to the availability message, the SIP server 70 is configured to transmit a message to the resource manager 50, via the data link 78, requesting termination of the call parking service. In this manner, service provided by the media control platform 52 is revoked by the local SIP server 70 who retains control of the call while media services are being provided from the remote operations environment. The media controller controls the media based on the request, and terminates the call parking service. Upon exchange of signaling messages between the SIP server 70 and the identified contact center resource, such as, for example, an agent device at the contact center premise 12, a call leg is established from the edge device 20 to the contact center resource to allow exchange of media between the customer and the contact center resource. The control signals transmitted by the SIP server 70, therefore, replaces a call leg between the edge device 20 and the media control platform 52 in the remote operations environment 16, with a new call leg established between the edge device 20 and the contact center resource at the contact center premise.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a system for providing call progress detection for outbound calls made in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. According to this embodiment, the local contact center premise 12 hosts a SIP server 90 and an outbound call server 92 as local appliances 10, while the remote platform 14 in the remote operations environment 16 hosts the resource manager 50 and media control platform 52. The SIP server 90 may be similar to the SIP server 56 of FIG. 2, and may be configured to receive commands to initiate an outbound call as directed by the outbound call server 92. In this regard, the outbound call server 92 may be configured with an outbound application (not shown) which provides call control during, for example, an outbound campaign. The outbound application may be similar to the outbound application 108 a, 108 b, of FIG. 3. In this regard, the outbound application may control the times and numbers to call, the voice applications to be invoked, and the like. A difference in the outbound applications is that the outbound application in FIG. 3 controls the media control platform to leave a message if the call is picked up by a person or an automated answering system, while the outbound application in FIG. 5 controls the media control platform to send a message if the call is picked up by a person for connecting the call to an agent

According to one embodiment, an outbound call is initiated as instructed by the outbound application executed by the outbound call server 92, in a manner similar to what was discussed with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 3. According to one embodiment, the media control platform provides the media for the outbound notification. In addition, the media control platform 52 may be configured to provide call progress detection based on for example, a request for such service from the SIP server 90 as determined by the executed outbound application. The request for initiating the outbound call and for call progress detection may be transmitted via a data link 120 that traverses the private network 22.

In response to the request for call progress detection, the media control platform 52 monitors the call progress for identifying triggering actions, such as, for example, the answering (or not) of the outbound call, including identifying the type of device or person answering the call (if at all). The call progress information is forwarded to the outbound call server 92 over a data link 122 as well as to the SIP server over data link 120. In response to the information, the outbound call server 92 may update its records, attempt calls to alternate numbers (in case a call to a first number was unsuccessful), and the like.

According to one embodiment, in response to receiving an update that a customer (as opposed to an answering machine or fax machine) has answered the call, the SIP server 90 may be configured to transmit a message to the outbound call server, to connect the customer with a live agent. According to one embodiment, the outbound call server 92 may be configured to match an agent camping on a media control platform to the answering customer that is connected to the same media control platform. Once the agent is identified, the call is connected by establishing a call leg from the edge device 20 to the device of the identified agent. This results in the call leg between the edge device 20 and the media control platform 52 being replaced with the call leg between the edge device 20 and the agent device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a system for call recording in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. This embodiment is similar to the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5 in that the resource manager 50 and media control platform 52 are hosted by the remote platform 14 in the remote operations environment 16. In addition to the resource manager and media control platform, the remote platform further hosts a recording server 400 configured for recording media exchanged during a media session. Although the recording server 400 is depicted as a separate component, a person of skill in the art should recognize that functionality of the recording server may be incorporated into the media control platform 52.

According to one embodiment, the media control platform 52 is configured for active recording. Unlike passive recording where VoIP recording is done by connecting a passive recording system to a switch to monitor all network traffic and pick out only the VoIP traffic to record, active recording allows a recording device to be an active participant in the call for recording purposes. In this regard, the media control platform 52 is in the media path established between two communicating parties in order to actively record the media traversing the media path.

According to one embodiment, the contact center premise hosts a SIP server 402 which may be similar to the SIP server 70 of FIG. 4, to initiate a call recording of a call established between the end user device 18 and an agent device 404, via the media control platform in the remote operations environment 16. In response to a request for recording services, the media control platform 52 performs media bridging 406 between the end user device 18 and the agent device 404, and initiates a recording session. The media control platform 52 replicates the media 408 a, 408 b to and from the end user device 18 and the agent device 404, and streams the replicated media to the recording server 400 which then proceeds to store the replicated media in a local and/or remote storage device (not shown). The local storage device may be, for example, a disk storage mechanism (e.g. disk array) in the remote operations environment 16 that may be scaled for the cluster of media control platforms in the remote operations environment. The remote storage device may be hosted, for example, in an environment (e.g. a public cloud computing environment) separate from the remote operations environment 16. According to one embodiment, the storage devices store media recordings for a plurality of tenants, in a safe and secure manner. In this regard, the recordings are stored in the storage devices in an encrypted manner (e.g. via a public key), which is configured to be decrypted (e.g. for listening) by the tenant who may own, for example, a private key.

According to one embodiment, the recording server 400 is configured to receive metadata of the call recordings from the SIP server 402 over a data link 410. The metadata may be stored in association with the corresponding call recordings in the same or separate data storage device as the actual call recordings.

Recording can be enabled from routing strategy by sending a RequestRouteCall message from the SIP server 402 to the media control platform 52 with extension key “record” and value set to “source” to record all legs until customer leaves the call, or “destination” to record while the target agent is on the call. Choosing recording using a routing strategy is referred to as selective recording. According to one embodiment, in recording based on a routing strategy, a tenant's recording parameters are checked for identifying a percentage of calls to be recorded and requesting recording for a particular call based on the identified percentage.

According to one embodiment, the SIP server 402 may be configured to record calls for specific agent DNs, or for all incoming calls. According to one embodiment, a “norecord” extension key may be supported for the RequestRouteCall message. When a “norecord” key is set, no recording is performed even if the call is set to record at the DN level. Dynamic recording control may still be allowed, however, after the call is established, so as to allow the agent to being recording the call when desired.

According to one embodiment, the agent device 404 may provide a graphical user interface with dynamic recording controls for allowing the agent to start, pause, resume, and stop a recording. According to one embodiment, commands for controlling the recording are forwarded by the SIP server 402. Other clients other than the agent device 404 may provide the recording commands even if not party to the call.

FIG. 7 is a signaling flow diagram for recording a call in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. The flow begins with step 420 where a media session is established between two communication devices referred to as party A 440 and party B 442.

In steps collectively identified as steps 422 and 424, a pre-negotiation phase ensues between the SIP server, resource manager, and media control platform 52, for providing a copy of the established media session between party A 440 and party B 442, to the media control platform 52. According to one embodiment, the information on the media session with party A is provided to the media control platform 52 in step 422 via the resource manager 50 via a session description protocol (SDP) that includes information such as, for example, IP address, port number, and codec used for sending and receiving RTP streams with party A. Information on the media session with party B is similarly provided to the same media control platform in step 424.

In steps collectively referred to as step 426, the SIP server 402 transmits a request to the media control platform 52 to record the call. In this regard, during signaling which is collectively referred to as step 428, the SIP server 402 transmits an INVITE message to the media control platform 52 (via the resource manager 50), for establishing a media path with party A 440, in which case the media control platform generates a session based on the session information received in the pre-negotiation phase in step 422 for party A. A media path for the generated media session is then established via signaling between the SIP server 402 and party A 440, as shown collectively as step 430.

Similarly during signaling which is collectively referred to generally as step 432, the SIP server 402 transmits an INVITE message to the media control platform 52 (via the resource manager 50), for establishing a media path with party B 442. The media control platform generates, in response, a session based on the session information received in the pre-notation phase in step 424 for party B. A media path for the generated media session is then established via signaling between the SIP server 402 and party B 442, as shown collectively as step 434.

Media is then exchanged via established media paths 436 and 438. In this manner, the media control platform 52 bridges media between party A 440 and party 460, and records the exchanged media in step 439.

II. Handling Connection Failures in Hybrid Environment

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment with failover capabilities according to one embodiment of the invention. An inbound call from the customer end device 18 is forwarded to the SIP server 56 for routing to a contact center agent. In the illustrated embodiment, the contact center agent registers with the SIP server 56 a directory number associated with an agent telephone 200. The agent also has access to a desktop 202 which may be used for receiving data about the inbound call from the SIP server 56. According to one embodiment, the data is transmitted over a data link 204 over a wide area network which may not utilize the same connections used for the private network 22. The desktop 202 may also provide a graphical user interface with call control options, such as, for example, options for answering calls, putting calls on hold, transferring calls, and the like.

According to one embodiment, the SIP server 56 is configured to monitor on a regular or irregular basis, the status of a connection to the agent device 200. In this regard, the SIP server 56 may be configured to transmit polling/heartbeat messages to the agent device 200 over a data link 206 traversing the private network 22, and wait for an acknowledgement within a preset amount of time. If the SIP server does not receive the acknowledgement within the set time period, the SIP server may be configured to assume that data link 206 or agent device 200 is faulty. In this case, the SIP server is configured to retrieve a list of alternate numbers (e.g. direct inward dialing (DID) numbers) to alternate phones 208 maintained by the SIP server for the agent. According to one embodiment, the alternate number is a number that is not used by any agent for registering with the SIP server.

In response to identifying the alternate number, calls to be routed to the agent are sent to the alternate phone number instead of the directory number in a seamless manner. According to one embodiment, call data continues to be delivered to the agent desktop 202 over the data link 204 which is not affected by the faulty data link 206 traversing the private network 22. According to one embodiment, the agent may engage in call control via the agent desktop for controlling calls routed to the alternate number. Routing to the directory number for the agent resumes when connection to the agent device 200 over the data link 206 is functional again.

According to one embodiment, a media path 205 a, 205 b from the end user device 18 to the alternate phone 208 is bridged through the media control platform 52, as shown in FIG. 8, if the call between the customer and the agent is to be recorded. Otherwise, the media path is bridged through the edge device 20 without traversing through the media control platform.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment with failover capabilities according to one embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the SIP server 56 is deployed in an active/hot-standby pair. For example, the remote SIP server 56 in the remote operations environment 16 may be deployed as a primary instance, while a local SIP server 250 in the contact center premise is deployed as a standby (failover) instance. Although a SIP server is used as an example for which failover capabilities are provided, a person of skill in the art should recognize that other contact center components may have similar failover capabilities.

According to one embodiment, an agent registers with the local SIP server 250 his or her registration information including, for example, a directory number associated with an agent device 252. The local SIP server 250 deployed as the hot-standby instance proxies the registration to the remote SIP server 56 deployed as the primary instance. In this regard, a copy of the agent registration information is forwarded to the remote SIP server 56 over a data link 254 for storing therein.

In the illustrated embodiment, an inbound call arrives at a media gateway which attempts to transmit, over a data link 258 traversing the private network 22, a request to route the call to the remote SIP server 56. If the request is successfully received by the remote SIP server 56, and assuming that the call is to be routed to the agent device 252, the SIP server signals the media gateway 256 to route the call to the agent device based on the registration information stored at the remote SIP server 56. A media channel 260 is then established to the agent device 252 for communicating with the end user device 18.

In the event, however, that the remote SIP server 56 does not respond within a preset amount of time to the request to route from the media gateway 256, the local SIP server 250 takes over, and the media gateway proceeds to send the request to the local SIP server over a local data link 262.

FIG. 10 is a schematic layout diagram of distribution of various media services in a hybrid operations environment according to one embodiment of the invention. The media services include but are not limited to call progress detection 300, conference 302, music-on-hold 304, call parking 306, call recording 308, and IVR self-service. Services such as conference 302 and music-on-hold 304 may be provided by one or more media controllers 310 at the contact center premise 12 by storing in the SIP server as the contact parameter 314, 316 for these services, the address of the resource manager at the contact center premise 12. Other services such as call progress detection 300, call recording 308, and IVR self-service 323 may be provided by one or more media controllers 312 at the remote operations environment by storing in the SIP server as the contact parameter 320, 321, 324 for these services, the address of the resource manager at the remote operations environment 16.

Other services, such as, for example, call parking 306 may be configured to be provided by media controllers 310, 312 at the contact center premise 12 as well as in the remote operations environment 16, in order to provide overflow support. The media controller that is to be invoked first is determined by a priority level stored by the SIP server in the contact parameter 318, 322 set for the service. In the illustrated example, the priority level set for the media controller 310 at the contact center premise (e.g. priority=0) signifies a higher priority than a priority level set for the media controller 312 in the remote operations environment (e.g. priority=1).

The SIP server transmits a request for media service to the media controller 310 at the higher priority. If the media controller 310 has reached a maximum threshold configured for the media controller, the SIP server receives a SIP response from the resource manager indicating this fact. The SIP server then sends the request to the overflow media controller 312 at the lower priority. The overflow media controller 312 continues to provide media services in response to requests from the SIP server until the load in the primary media controller 310 falls below a desired threshold.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to one embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated embodiment, a SIP server 2100 is deployed at the contact center premise 12. The SIP server may be similar, for example, to the SIP server 56 of FIG. 3.

According to one embodiment, a call to the particular contact center is received by the edge device 20, and the edge device signals the SIP server 2100 to route the call. In response, the SIP server 2100 determines a media service appropriate for servicing a portion of the call, and identifies a media resource based on the type of media service. For example, if the media service is IVR self-service, the SIP server may identify the resource manager 50 in the remote operations environment 52 based on the contact parameter stored in the SIP server for this particular service. In response to the identification, the SIP server transmits a request to the resource manager 50 for connecting the call to the remote control platform 52 which provides voice prompts during the IVR self-service. Thus, for this portion of the call, a call leg 2104 a is established from the customer end user device to the edge device, and another call leg 2104 b from the edge device 20 to the remote media control platform 52.

During the call, the SIP server 2100 decides that another media service is to be provided for a different segment of the call. For example, the media service may be playing music while the call is placed on hold (e.g. music-on-hold service). The request for this media service may be, for example, from a routing server (not shown) based on a routing strategy executed by the routing server.

In response determining that a second media service is to be provided, the SIP server identifies the location of the media resource (e.g. a local resource manager) to provide the requested service. In the illustrated example, a media control platform 2102 at the local premise is invoked to provide media for the second portion of the call. For a music-on-hold service, the media that is provided by the media control platform 2012 is music configured by the tenant for this service. In this regard, the call leg 2104 b from the edge device 20 to the remote media control platform 52 is replaced with a newly established call leg 2104 c from the edge device 20 to the media control platform 2102. In this manner, media is moved from the remote operations environment 16 to the local operations environment 12 via control signals transmitted by the SIP server 2100 at the local operations environment.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to another embodiment of the invention. According to this embodiment, a SIP server 2202 is at the contact center premise 12 and media is provided via the resource manager 52 and media control platform 50 in the remote operations environment 16. The SIP server 2202 may be similar to the SIP server 56 of FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, a call from the end user device 18 arrives at a media gateway 2200 at the contact center premise 12 and the SIP server 2202 is invoked for routing the call. When media service is to be provided for the call, the SIP server identifies the resource manager 52 in the remote operations environment 16 (e.g. via the directory number configured at the SIP server for the particular media service), and transmits a signaling message for providing the media service to the resource manager 52. The resource manager forwards the request to the media control platform 50 selected to handle the service, and a media path 2204 is established between the end user device and the media control platform 50.

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid operations environment for providing media services according to another embodiment of the invention. According to this embodiment, a SIP server 2300 is in the remote operations environment 16 for controlling media while media itself is provided via a resource manager 2302 and media control platform 2304 at the local operations environment 12. The SIP server 2300 may be similar to the SIP server 56 of FIG. 2. An inbound call is received at the edge device 20, and a request to route the call is transmitted to the SIP server 2300. If media is to be provided for the call, the SIP server identifiers a resource manager, which, in the example of FIG. 23, is the resource manager 2302 at the contact center premise 12. The resource manager in turn identifies the appropriate media control platform, which, in the example of FIG. 23, is the media control platform 2304 at the contact center premise 12. A media path 2306 is established between the end user device 18 and the media control platform 2304.

III. Geo-Location Based Call Recording

Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to recording in a contact center that provides geo-location support. Geo-location support allows a contact center with multi-site deployment of particular components to select one of the multi-sites for invoking the components in the selected site. This helps minimize WAN traffic or minimize latency in certain situations.

FIG. 11A is a schematic block diagram of a contact center system illustrating cost and latency for an typical VoIP call without call recording according to one embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated embodiment, a customer utilizes a media gateway 500 in a particular geographic location 502 (e.g. Dallas, Tex.), to transmit a VoIP call to a contact center located in another geographic location 504 (e.g. San Francisco, Calif.). One or more appliances 506-512 hosted at the contact center premise 504 may be invoked for routing the call. For example, a SIP server 506 may determine that the call should be routed to an agent device 514 located in a second geographic location 516 remote to both the first geographic location and the second geographic location. A media channel 518 that traverses the wide area network, such as, for example, the public Internet, is established between the media gateway 500 and the agent device 514. Voice data is transmitted via the media channel. The latency and traffic created in transmitting the voice data is the latency and traffic associated with traversing the wide area network once, for each voice packet transmitted between the customer and the agent.

FIG. 11B is a schematic block diagram of the contact center system of FIG. 11A handling call recording according to existing solutions. In the illustrated prior art system, both the media control platform 510 and the recording server 512 are deployed at the contact center premise 504. Thus, in response to the SIP server 510 transmitting a command to the media control platform 510 to record the call between the customer and the agent, an established media path 520 a, 520 b is bridged through the media control platform 510 at the contact center premise 504, and media transported over the media path is recorded by the recording server 512 also at the contact center premise. This solution, however, doubles the traffic over the wide area network given that the traffic first traverses to the media control platform 510 before reaching its destination. The solution also adds to the latency of the media path. Such latency, however, may not be acceptable for real-time calls.

According to one embodiment, a contact center is enabled for geo-location-based call recording which helps minimize latency and cost associated with traditional call recordings.

FIG. 11C is a schematic block diagram of a contact center system configured for geo-location-based call recording according to one embodiment of the invention. As in the example of FIG. 11B, a customer utilizes a media gateway 530 in a particular geographic location 532 (e.g. Dallas, Tex.), to transmit a VoIP call to a contact center located in another geographic location 534 (e.g. San Francisco, Calif.). According to one embodiment, the contact center premise hosts appliances such as, for example, a SIP server 536, resource manager 538, and recording server 540. In other embodiments, one or more of the appliances may be hosted in a remote operations environment such as, for example, the remote operations environment 16 of FIG. 6.

According to one embodiment, one or more media control platforms 542 associated with the contact center are distributed to different geographic regions, such as for example, the geographic location 532 at or near the media gateway 530. According to one embodiment, a pool of media control platforms 542 is deployed in each geographic region. For example, a pool of media control platforms associated with a particular contact center may be deployed somewhere in North America, another pool of media control platforms may be deployed somewhere in Europe, and yet another pool of media control platforms may be deployed somewhere in Asia. The exact locations may depend on various factors, such as, for example, the location of the contact center premise, amount of business conducted in certain geographic regions, locations of agents, and the like.

According to one embodiment, other contact center components such as the recording server 540, SIP server 536, and resource manager 538 are not distributed to the various geographic locations. This helps minimize cost for the contact center without compromising quality of real time calls between a customer and an agent. In other embodiments, one or more of the other contact center components are deployed to the various geographic regions.

In the example of FIG. 11C, a customer utilizes the media gateway 530 to initiate a call to the contact center. A SIP server 536 at the contact center premise 534 routes the call to an agent device 544 in a geographic location 546 remote from both the geographic location 532 of the media gateway 530 and the contact center premise 534. The SIP server 536 further determines that the call should be recorded based on, for example, a DN of the agent handling the call, an express request from the agent, or other configuration parameters accessed by the SIP server for the contact center. The SIP server 536 selects a geographic region based on one or more configuration parameters, and forwards the selected geographic region (e.g. geo-location=dallas) to the resource manager 538 along with a request to record the call. The resource manager in turn runs a routine for selecting a media control pool tagged to the identified geographic region. An appropriate media control platform is selected from the pool based on load balancing and other considerations, and a message for recording the call is transmitted to the selected media control platform. An established media path 548 a, 548 b is bridged through the selected media control platform 542. Assuming that the media control platform 542 is local to the media gateway 530, the media path 548 a between the media gateway and the media control platform 542 traverses a local network. Network latency is assumed to be negligible when media is sent over the local network.

The media path 548 a between the media control platform 542 and the agent device 544 traverses a wide area network. The latency associated with the media path 548 b is the latency associated with traversing the wide area network once. Thus, overall latency in the recorded media communication between the customer and the agent is minimized when compared to the prior art solution described with respect to FIG. 11B.

According to one embodiment, the replicated media is transmitted for recording to the recording server 540 over the wide area network via a media path 550. Any delay encountered in transmitting the media due to traffic on the wide area network may be acceptable due to the fact that the replicated media is generally not required to be available in real time. In other embodiments, the recording server 540 is deployed in the same geographic location as the media control platform 542. According to those embodiments, the replicated media traverses a local network instead of the wide area network.

According to one embodiment, configuration of geo-location may happen, for example, in two places: DN objects in a switch, and resource groups for the media control platform and recording servers. A geo-location tag for each DN (of type trunk DN, route point DN, extension DN, and trunk group DN) is assigned for the media control platform and recording server resource groups. A graphical user interface available to a contact center administrator may be used for the assignment of the geo-location tags.

How a geo-location is selected for each call depends on how the SIP server 536 is configured. According to one embodiment, the SIP Server selects a geo-location with the following order or preference for inbound calls:

-   -   1) Geo-location configured in the extension of a request to         route a call (RequestRouteCall) (e.g. an agent's telephone         extension number);     -   2) Geo-location configured in the routing point DN (e.g. a DN         for a contact center component which may further route a call);     -   3) Geo-location configured in the inbound trunk DN (e.g. DN of a         trunk transporting an inbound call); and     -   4) Geo-location configured in the DN where the recording is         enabled.

Of course, other orders are also contemplated. For outbound calls, the following order of preference may be used, although other orders are also contemplated:

-   -   1) Geo-location configured in the extensions of         RequestRouteCall;     -   2) Geo-location configured in the routing point DN;     -   3) Geo-location configured in the agent DN; and     -   4) Geo-location configured in the outbound trunk DN if recording         is enabled

According to one embodiment, when a DN is configured to be recorded, the geo-location set at the DN is selected. When more than one DN involved in the call has a geo-location set (e.g. both inbound Trunk DN and the Routing Point DN have geo-location set), then the SIP server 536 may be configured to select the geo-location based on a configured order of preference, such as, for example, the preference described above.

The selection of the geo-location may also vary based on the routing strategy invoked by the SIP server 502 for routing a particular call. For example, if a parameter “record=source” is set in the extension identified in a request to route the call, then the geo-location of the inbound Trunk DN of the call is selected if configured. If a parameter “record=destination” is set in the extension of the request to route the call, then the geo-location of the agent (extension DN) is selected. Selection of the geo-location may also depend on instructions provided by a party specifically requesting dynamic recording.

IV. Handling Call Recording Failures

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a system for contact center call recording and recording posting according to one embodiment of the invention. The system includes a remote operations environment 600 with an edge device 604 for routing calls between customers utilizing various telephony service providers 606, and contact center resources in a contact center premise 602. The edge device 604, remote operations environment 600, and contact center premise 602 may be similar to respectively the edge device 20, remote operations environment 16, and contact center premise 12 of FIG. 6.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 12, the remote operations environment 600 hosts a resource manager 610, media control platform 608, and recording server 616 (which may be incorporated into the media control platform 608), which may be similar to respectively the resource manager 50, media control platform 52, and recording server 400 of FIG. 6.

The contact center premise 602 hosts a SIP server 612 in communication with the resource manager 610 over a wide area network for signaling the media control platform 608 to record media transmitted between an agent device 620 and a customer (via a telephony service provider 606). In this regard, a media path 622 a, 662 b is bridged by the media control platform 608, and media transmitted over the media path 622 a, 622 b is replicated and transmitted to the recording server 616 via messages similar to the messages described with respect to FIG. 7.

The system of FIG. 12 further includes a mass storage device 624 configured to store recordings transmitted by the recording server 616. The mass storage device may be, for example, an online storage in a public cloud computing environment offered, for example, by Amazon Web Services (e.g. Amazon S3 online storage web service). According to one embodiment, the recording is encrypted by the media control platform 608 prior to posting into a bucket associated with the tenant for which recordings are being stored. The encryption of the audio recording may be via an encryption key stored in the IVR profile of the tenant. An authorization key for posting in the mass storage device may also be obtained, as necessary, from the tenant's IVR profile.

According to one embodiment, the remote control environment 600 further hosts a web server 614 providing a call recording API for interfacing with the media control platform 608 and a graphical user interface 628. According to one embodiment, the media control platform 608 uses the API to post call metadata for a recorded call, including a universal resource identifier (URI) or any other link to the recording stored in the mass storage device 624. The graphical user interface 628 accesses the API for accessing call recordings stored in the mass storage device 624, and for performing searching and other analytics on the recordings.

According to one embodiment, a key management server 629 is deployed by a tenant for performing key management for the tenant for encryption and decryption of call recordings. In this regard, the key management server 629 provides a user interface for access by tenant administrators 627 for uploading and managing certificates for the encryption and decryption of the call recordings. The key management server 629 may be deployed in the remote operations environment 600 (or another remote environment) or at the contact center premise 602. In one embodiment, the graphical user interface 628 for accessing the call recordings is integrated into the key management server 629.

The contact center premise 602 may host a server providing an interaction concentrator (ICON) application 630 coupled to an ICON database 632. According to one embodiment, the ICON application receives call and other interaction event details from the SIP server 612 and stores the details in the ICON database 632. The web server 614 is configured to access the ICON database 632 and retrieve event details associated with the call metadata received from the media control platform 616, and store the event details and associated call metadata in a call record maintained in a call database 634.

FIG. 13 is signaling flow diagram for posting a recorded call according to one embodiment of the invention. The media control platform 608 detects in step 654 that a recording for media exchanged between party A 650 and party B 652 has terminated. This may be based, on for example, one of the parties dropping off the call, an end-recording command from one of the parties, or the like.

In step 656, the media control platform 608 encrypts and stores the call recording in the mass storage device 624, and receives, in step 658, from a processor coupled to the mass storage device, a URI to the recording.

In step 660, the media control platform 608 posts to the web server 614 call metadata including, for example, the received URI.

In step 662, the web server 614 performs a query of the ICON database 632 for pulling additional call events from the database in step 664. In step 666, the web server stores the call metadata and events in the call database 634. The web server may also cache and batch-update the call records at a later time.

In step 668, the web server 614 informs the media control platform 608 of results of the posting of the call recording.

When the media is bridged through the media control platform 608, the platform becomes a single point of failure for the duration of the communication session. According to one embodiment, if the resource manager 610 detects failure of a particular media control platform 608, the resource manager notifies the SIP server 612 for prompting the SIP server to take alternative action on the call.

FIGS. 14A-14B are signaling flow diagrams for handling failure of a media control platform during a recording according to one embodiment of the invention. In step 700, the SIP server 612 provides a message to the resource manager 610 for prompting the resource manager to subscribe the media control platform 608 with the SIP server. In response, the resource manager 610 transmits, in step 702, information on the media control platform 608 and other media control platforms it manages and which have been assigned to calls. Each media control platform may handle, for example, hundreds of calls at a time. The SIP server 612 maintains this information in memory until the associated calls terminate.

While a recording for a particular call between party A 650 and party B 652 bridged by the media controller 608 is in progress 704, the media controller fails as depicted via step 706. The failure is detected by the resource manager 610 via, for example, periodic heartbeat messages broadcast by the resource manager to all active media control platforms.

In step 708, the resource manager 610 transmits notification on the specific media control platform 608 that has failed.

The failure of the media control platform 608 results in a break of the media path between party A 650 and party B. Accordingly, in steps which are referenced generally via reference 710, the SIP server 612 re-establishes the disconnected media path via standard SIP messages so that the communication session continues. A media channel is established in step 712, and party A 650 continues to communicate with party B 652.

In steps 720-736, the SIP server 612 attempts to record the call again by initiating a new recording session with the same parameters. The steps taken by the SIP server 612 in establishing the new recording session for a particular call is similar to the steps discussed with reference to FIG. 7. In this regard, the SIP server 612 identifies, based on the subscription information, that the call between party A and party B was assigned to the failing media control platform 608, and engages in pre-negotiation with the resource manager 610 for providing a copy of the established media session between party A 650 and party B 652, to a second media control platform 800 selected by the resource manager 610. According to one embodiment, the information on the media session with party A is provided to the media control platform 800 in step 720 via the resource manager 610 via a session description protocol (SDP) that includes information such as, for example, IP address, port number, and codec used for sending and receiving RTP streams with party A. Information on the media session with party B is similarly provided to the same media control platform in step 722.

In steps collectively referred to as step 724, the SIP server 612 transmits a request to the second media control platform 800 to record the call. In this regard, during signaling which is collectively referred to as step 726, the SIP server 612 transmits an INVITE message to the media control platform 800 (via the resource manager 610), for establishing a media path with party A 650, in which case the media control platform generates a session based on the session information received in the pre-negotiation phase in step 720 for party A. A media path for the generated media session is then established via signaling between the SIP server 612 and party A 650, as shown collectively as step 728.

Similarly during signaling which is collectively referred to generally as step 730, the SIP server 612 transmits an INVITE message to the second media control platform 800 (via the resource manager 610), for establishing a media path with party B 652. The media control platform generates, in response, a session based on the session information received in the pre-notation phase in step 722 for party B. A media path for the generated media session is then established via signaling between the SIP server 612 and party B 652, as shown collectively as step 732.

Media is then exchanged via established media paths 734 and 736. In this manner, the second media control platform 800 bridges media between party A 650 and party 652, and replicates the media for recording.

The following step 738 for posting the recorded media in the mass storage device 624 is similar to the steps discussed above with respect to FIG. 13.

In addition to re-recording the call upon the failure, the failed media control platform 608 instance also provides a mechanism to recover the recording up to the point of the failure. According to one embodiment, the media control platform 608 stores the call recording on a local disk as the recording is going on, which allows the recording to be submitted later for storing in the mass storage device 624 when the media control platform 608 restarts.

FIG. 15 is a conceptual layout diagram of process for recovering a recording upon failure and recovery of a media control platform according to one embodiment of the invention. Prior to failure of the media control platform 608, recording starts at time 900 and the media control platform writes the call metadata 902 to the local disk. According to one embodiment, once the metadata 902 is written to the disk in the beginning of the recording, the media control platform 608 does not modify the metadata file. Thus, according to one embodiment, runtime information such as timestamps of pause and resume periods are not stored; however, audio masking is done in the audio file so there is no risk not masking the audio of sensitive and/or confidential information. According to one embodiment, the metadata 902 is written to the disk unencrypted since metadata does not contain sensitive information.

In embodiments where the audio recording is to be stored in an encrypted form (based on configuration settings for a particular tenant), the media control platform 608 begins to store encrypted audio recording beginning from time 900. As recording proceeds in time, the encrypted audio recording is temporarily stored in the disk in blocks 908 a, 908 b. According to one embodiment, the media control platform 608 uses an encryption algorithm based on, for example, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which allows block cipher so that encrypted audio may be written in blocks.

According to one embodiment, the media control platform 608 uses a random symmetric session key to encrypt the audio. The session key is further encrypted using, for example, a public key provisioned for the tenant, and the encrypted session key 904 is also written to the disk at time 900 when the recording begins. According to one embodiment, the encryption of the session key is according to any one of various public key cryptography mechanisms known in the art, such as, for example, public-key cryptography. The media control platform 608 does not have access to the symmetric key to decrypt the audio file as the key is protected by public key encryption.

According to one embodiment, audio header data 906 is also stored in the disk when recording begins at time 900.

At time 902, the media control platform 608 fails. The recording metadata 902, encrypted session key 904, audio header 906, and encrypted audio blocks 908 a, 908 b, however, remain on the disk. Assuming that conversation continues during time 916, the conversation is recorded by the second media control platform 800 as discussed with respect to FIGS. 14A-14B.

At a later time 904, the media control platform 608 restarts. According to one embodiment, upon restarting, the media control platform 608 checks the local disk and detects recordings in the disk. The media control platform 608 packages the audio blocks 908 a, 908 b into a partial encrypted audio file 910, and posts the file to the mass storage device 624. In addition, the media control platform 608 submits the recording metadata and the encrypted session key to the call recording API of the web server 614. Once the media control platform 608 submits the encrypted audio and full metadata to the call recording API of the web server 614, the temporary files are removed from disk. According to one embodiment, the audio in the partial audio file is associated with a timestamp so that, upon retrieval, the partial audio file may be played in the correct order relative to other audio recordings that may have been written to the mass storage device by other media control platforms (e.g. the second media platform 800 that takes over after failure of the media control platform 608), for the same call.

According to another embodiment, the second media control platform 800 is active at the same time as media control platform 608. Both media control platforms 608, 800, receive media data exchanged between parties A and B 650, 652, and both write the media data into their local disks as temporary data until the data is posted to the corresponding storage devices 624, 634. The media control platform 608, however, acts as a primary source of control. According to one embodiment, the primary media control platform 608 is responsible for posting the data temporarily stored in its local disk, to the corresponding storage devices 624, 634. The primary media control platform 608 (or another component, such as, for example, the web server 614) transmits a message to the second media control platform 800 after the posting is complete, to prompt the second media control platform to remove the no longer needed temporary files, from disk. According to this embodiment, if the primary media control platform 608 fails, the second media control platform may be selected by the resource manager to continue the recording for a particular call. Because the temporary files resident in the primary media control platform also reside in the second media control platform, there may be no need to execute the process discussed with respect to FIG. 15, for recovering a recording portion from a failed media control platform, after the media control platform is restored.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a structure of call recording metadata provided to the web server 614 according to one embodiment of the invention. The metadata includes a “recordings” array 1000 which stores metadata for a recording segment for a call. From the perspective of the media control platform 608, it posts a single recording segment. Thus, according to one embodiment, the array size for the “recordings array” is one. The “recordings” array includes the following parameters:

-   -   “uri” 1002 contains the URI of the posted call recording in the         mass storage device 624.     -   “start” 1004 is a start time of the call recording.     -   “end” 1006 is an end time of the call recording.     -   “duration” 1008 is a duration of the call recording in seconds.     -   “parameters” 110 include certain parameters applied in the call         recording. This may include, for example, IVR profile service         parameters.     -   “metadata” 1012 are metadata parameters passed by the SIP server         612 to contain relevant metadata about the call recording, such         as, for example, the number that was called 1014, number for the         caller 1016, directory number of the agent who handled the call,         and the date and time the call was handled 1020.     -   “masks” 1022 is an array of timestamps and type information that         represent periods of pause and resume requests received for the         recording segment.     -   “pkcs7” 1024 is a parameter for storing the encrypted session         key provided by the media control platform 608 if the call is         encrypted. The symmetric session key(s) are encrypted via a         public key and stored as a base64 string.

A “metadata” parameter 1026 is also provided with a single property referred to as a “uuid” for storing a unique identifier for the call.

V. Call Recording Encryption

As discussed above, certain tenants (e.g. contact centers providing banking services) may want call recordings to be encrypted. As discussed above, one or more session key(s) may be used to encrypt the audio recordings for a tenant. The session keys may be protected via any public key cryptography mechanism known in the art. According to one embodiment, a public-key cryptography system (PKCS), e.g. PKCS#7, is utilized. Other types of public key infrastructure (PKI) may also be used, such as for example PGP (pretty good privacy) mechanism.

According to one embodiment, the key management server 629 (FIG. 12) deployed by a tenant provides manages public key certificates for the tenant for binding a public key with the tenant. In this regard, the tenant administrator accesses the user interface provided by the key management server for uploading public encryption keys for each certificate. Multiple certificates may be maintained for each tenant.

According to one embodiment, the key management system provides the tenant's public key certificate to the web server 614 for storing in the IVR profile for the tenant. When the resource manager 610 forwards a recording request to the media control platform 608, the resource manager provides a database identifier of the IVR profile for the tenant for whom the request is provided, and the media control platform 608 retrieves the public encryption key from the IVR profile for performing the encryption of the session key. According to one embodiment, if the tenant does not require encryption, the certificate is not configured in the IVR profile. The media control platform does not encrypt an audio recording if the certificate is not configured for a tenant.

According to one embodiment, the key management server 629 is configured for public key rotation for a particular tenant. In this regard, when the web server 614 receives the encrypted symmetric session key from the media control platform 608, the key management system 629 may update the public key that was used for the encrypting with a new public encryption key. The newly encrypted session key may then be stored in the call record for the call recording. The rotation of the public encryption key may be done in batch for a plurality of call recordings. The updating of the public key without updating the session key avoids having to re-encrypt the audio data hosted in the mass storage device 624, avoiding costs associated with fetching the data from the mass storage device, re-encrypting the data, and then posting back to the mass storage device.

According to one embodiment, the key management system 629 provides a user interface for decryption and playback of encrypted audio files by an authorized user. In this regard, the user interface is invoked to select a particular audio recording, and the URI of the selected audio recording is passed to the web server 614 for fetching the encryption session key and the encrypted audio data, and packaging the two components as, for example, a single PKCS#7 component that is transmitted to the key management system 629. The key management system is configured to decrypt the content and return the audio to the user via, for example HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), or other secure communication protocol.

VI. Call Event Tagging for Contact Center Call Recordings

As described above, the web server 614 receives call metadata for a recording segment for a call. According to one embodiment, a list of call events is submitted to the web server 614 as part of the call recording metadata. Each call event may be associated with a timestamp to allow navigation to the associated portion of the voice file during playback.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a structure of call recording metadata provided to the web server 614 according to one embodiment of the invention. The metadata includes “metadata” parameters 1100 and a “recordings” array 1102 similar to the “metadata” parameters 1012 and “recordings” array 1000 of FIG. 16.

The call metadata further includes an “events” structure 1104 with an array of events 1106 a-1106 c. With respect to one exemplary event 1106 a, the event includes a timestamp 1108 in which the event occurred for identifying the portion of the voice recording associated with the event. The event data in the example further identifies a DN 1110 of the agent involved in the event, and an event descriptor 1112 indicating that a connection was made with the DN. Other events may include, for example, a party joining the call, a party being disconnected to the call, and the like.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual layout diagram of a call record 1800 displayed by a client playback application executed, for example, by a user interface in the key management server 629 according to one embodiment of the invention. According to one embodiment, the call record 1800 displays the array of events 1106 a-1106 c stored in the events structure 1104 of FIG. 17.

According to one embodiment, tags may be stored as part of the call recording metadata as an event parameter, and displayed under a “call tags” field 1802 when the call record 1800 is displayed. The tags may be used to navigate to a specific point in the recording, much like a timestamp 1108 associated with an event. In this manner, a supervisor may fast forward to the interesting part of the recorded conversation, such as, for example when the conversation switched from credit card to checking account and agent tagged the call as PERSONAL_CHECKING. The tags may be generated based on manual input from the contact center agent. For example, the agent device may provide various tag icons that the agent may select depending on a particular subject that was discussed at a particular point in time, customer sentiment (e.g. angry customer which generates an ANGRY_CUSTOMER tag), and any other information about the conversation. The tags may also be generated automatically, for example, based on analysis of customer tone of voice, and the like. In another example, identification of a particular department to which a call is transferred may cause the automatic generating of a call tag.

According to one embodiment, selection of an event marked by a particular call tag causes navigating to the portion of the audio associated with the timestamp of the call tag for playing the audio. The event may be highlighted as the recording plays.

VII. Call Recording Stitching for Multi-Site Contact Centers

According to one embodiment, a call may be transferred from one SIP server which may be located in one location, to another SIP server which may be located in another location, such as, for example, when a call is transferred from one department to another. According to one embodiment, each SIP server 612 is configured to store call event data in a separate ICON database 630. It is desirable to query from the multiple ICON databases in order to track call events associated with a particular call across multiple SIP servers.

According to one embodiment, a call uuid generated by each SIP server for the segment of the call handled by the server is associated with a separate call recording metadata. According to one embodiment, the call recording metadata may be linked to other call recording metadata via, for example, “next” and “previous” properties. The “next” property may be a link (e.g. URI) to a next call metadata record generated when the call is transferred by a current SIP server to a next SIP server, while the “previous” property may be a link to a previous call metadata record generated by a previous SIP server before the call is transferred to the current SIP server.

FIGS. 19 and 20 are diagrams of the structure of call recording metadata generated for different segments of a call according to one embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated example, call recording metadata 2000 is generated for a first segment of a call which occurs before the call is transferred to another SIP server. The transfer of the call causes the generating of another call recording metadata 2002 for a second segment of the call. According to one embodiment, each metadata includes a call uuid identifying the segment of the call, and a link 2008, 2010 to the call recording in the mass storage device 624.

The call recording metadata 2000 for the first segment of the call includes a “next” link 2014 including the call uuid of the next segment of the call. The “next” link thus allows the retrieval of the call recording metadata 2002 generated for the second segment of the call. Similarly, the call recording metadata 2002 includes a “previous” link 2016 including the call uuid of the previous segment of the call. The “previous” link thus allows the retrieval of the call recording metadata 2000 generated for the first segment of the call. A playback application may thus follow the links in the call metadata records for tracking call events associated with multiple call segments handled by different SIP servers.

It is the Applicant's intention to cover by claims all such uses of the invention and those changes and modifications which could be made to the embodiments of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present embodiments of the invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention to be indicated by claims and their equivalents rather than the foregoing description. 

1. A method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment including a first operations environment and a second operations environment, the method comprising: receiving by a first controller in a first operations environment, a first message for establishing a communication session; transmitting by the first controller a request for media service to a media controller in a second operations environment; in response to the request, providing media by the media controller to a target device during the communication session; receiving by the media controller, during the communication session, a second message from the first controller; and controlling by the media controller the media based on the second message from the first controller.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media service is a call parking service, and the media is music played by the media controller.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second message is for ending the call parking service, and the controlling by the media controller ends the music played by the media controller.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the media service is for call recording, and the media provided to the target device is media to be recorded by the target device.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second message is for ending the call recording, and the controlling by the media controller ends the recording by the target device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the media controller in the second operations environment provides the media service to a plurality of contact centers sharing the media controller.
 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising: identifying one of the plurality of contact centers associated with an inbound call, wherein the media session is established for the inbound call; and identifying a profile for the identified contact center, wherein a parameter for providing the media is based on the identified profile.
 8. A system for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment, the system comprising: a first controller in a first operations environment configured to: receive a first message for establishing a communication session; transmit a request for media service; and a media controller in a second operations environment, the media controller being configured to: provide media to a target device during the communication session in response to the request; receive during the communication session a second message from the first controller; and control the media based on the second message from the first controller.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the media service is a call parking service, and the media is music played by the media controller.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the second message is for ending the call parking service, and the controlling by the media controller ends the music played by the media controller.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the media service is for call recording, and the media provided to the target device is media to be recorded by the target device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second message is for ending the call recording, and the controlling by the media controller ends the recording by the target device.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the media controller in the second operations environment is configured to provide the media service to a plurality of contact centers sharing the media controller.
 14. The system of claim 13 further comprising: identifying by the media controller one of the plurality of contact centers associated with an inbound call, wherein the media session is established for the inbound call; and identifying by the media controller a profile for the identified contact center, wherein a parameter for providing the media is based on the identified profile.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the media controller includes a resource manager for managing resources for each of the plurality of contact centers.
 16. A system for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment including a first operations environment and a second operations environment, the system comprising: a first controller in a first operations environment configured to: receive a first message for establishing a media session; transmit a request for media service to a media controller in a second operations environment, wherein in response to the request, the media controller is configured to provide media to a target device during the media session; and transmit a second message to the media controller during the media session, wherein the media controller is configured to control the media based on the second message. 